


The Path

by BugontheRug



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Rick Grimes, Cop Rick, Divorced Rick Grimes, Friends to Lovers, Gay Daryl Dixon, Human Trafficking, M/M, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Child Abuse, Past Domestic Abuse, Past Internalized Homophobia, Rich Daryl, Singer Daryl, Slow Burn, Trust Issues, i have nothing against soccer, soccer smashing, writer daryl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-03-08 07:45:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13453656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BugontheRug/pseuds/BugontheRug
Summary: On the night of his wife's betrayal, Rick meets Daryl.Daryl's life has finally come together, but something feels like it's missing.Can Rick allow himself to let someone new into his heart? Can Daryl move on from his past or will he let a chance for love slip away?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So this is going to be my first multi-chapter fic so welcome to the journey! I have most of it outlined, but updates will be sporadic. 
> 
> For those wondering about the past domestic abuse tag, it's never going to be physical in this work. It'll be more emotional abuse and manipulation and I'm not sure yet if I'm ever going to explicitly have it happen in the fic, but it will be hinted at throughout. Similar for the past child abuse, Daryl had a SOB of a father like canon but nothing graphic will be described in this work.
> 
> I'm super stoked about this AU and hope y'all enjoy it!

Rick threw back another shot and slammed the glass down, “Another.” He threw that one back and demanded another. 

“Rough day?” the bartender asked as he poured another shot.

“You don’t even know the half of it.” Rick felt the shot burn down his throat. He started feeling the whiskey take effect. “Can I get it neat?”

He nursed his drink and welcomed the numbing fog that was seeping into his brain helping him stop the cycle of his thoughts. He vaguely noticed the bar was filling up and wished it could just be him and a bottle of jack. He heard a few strums of a guitar and the crowd around him started applauding and whistling.

Sluggishly, Rick turned to see what all the fuss was about. On the small stage of the bar was a band of three. The guy on the drums looked like the kind of guy he wouldn’t be surprised to see behind bars. He was big, muscularly big, a mostly shaved head, a strong square jaw, and a nose that looked like it was broken a few times. The guy on the bass had very noticeable scarring on the right side of his face that his long blond hair couldn’t quite hide. He was tall but as lean as a green bean. 

Rick chuckled at his rhyme and looked at his drink wondering if he’d had enough to drink. Deciding no, he swallowed the rest of his drink and ordered another. While he waited, he looked back at the band and took in the sight of the guitarist. He had shaggy long, dark brown hair covering his eyes, broad shoulders with a tapered waist, looking like the perfect front man with a scruffy goatee and his dark washed jeans and leather vest.

“Hello, we’re The Walking Dead and we’re glad to be playing here tonight.” the guitarist spoke into the microphone causing another wave of applause.

Rick turned back to the bar to his drink. This is what he was here for, not the music. As he sipped at his new drink he listened as the band began to play. The guitarist’s gravely voice filled the room. It was a soothing voice in Rick’s opinion. But then the comfortable fog that filled his mind was swept away by the words in the air. 

_Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay_  
_Were laid spread out before me as her body once did._  
_All five horizons revolved around her soul as the earth to the sun_  
_Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn_

_Ooh, and all I taught her was everything_  
_Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore_

Rick was dragged back into the hours old memories he was there to forget. Seeing pale legs spread out on a bed with tan muscles between them, the sound of skin slapping together. He felt his throat tighten and his eyes beginning to water.

“Another shot, “ he rasped out. He quickly poured it down his throat hoping to get some of the numbing fog back.

_All the love gone bad turned my world to black_  
_Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I'll be... yeah..._

_Uh huh... uh huh... ooh..._

___I know someday you'll have a beautiful life,_  
_I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky,_  
_But why, why, why can't it be, can't it be mine?_

Was this guy looking into his fucking soul? The singer’s voice was filled with such gruff pain, Rick could’ve sworn it reflected what was swirling inside him. How could Lori have done that to him? They were together for twenty years, married for fifteen! Yeah, they had some problems, but weren’t they working through it? 

Rick watch the amber liquid swirl in his glass, tilting it back and forth, searching for the answers to the questions that plagued his mind. Was he not enough? He sank into his dark thoughts and didn’t hear the rest of the band’s set or the crowd beginning to thin. 

He was shaken from his thoughts when the gravelly voice spoke next to him. “Hey Abe, is Dale here? I need to pick up the check for Merle.”

“I’ll go grab him.”

The singer took a seat next to him while he waited for the bartender to come back with Dale. Rick took this opportunity to observe the man whose voice was able to rip him from the oblivion he was looking for. He looked young, a few years younger than Rick, but what was young when he felt ancient with the knowledge that his youth was wasted?

“Here you go.” An older man was behind the bar with the bartender handing the singer a check. “It includes last night’s set also. Thanks for being patient.”

“No problem Dale. Have a good night. Abe.” the singer nodded to the bartender and was making to stand up to go and Rick’s slow, sloshed brain was telling him that letting this man go would be bad, very bad.

“Abe! A drink for my friend here!” Rick said loudly, trying to clap the singer on his shoulder so he would sit. He missed and almost fell out of his seat. The man caught him and put him back in his seat before sitting back down. “Whoops.” He couldn’t stop smiling at the fact that his goal was achieved anyway.

“Just a coke, Abe.” 

“Don’t worry man, I’m buying. Get whatever you want.” Rick slurred. The singer eyed him and turned back to Abe.

“Just a coke and a water for this dude.”

“No, no, no water for me. Just more whiskey.” Rick started giggling. God another rhyme!

“A water please, Abe.” The bartender walked away before Rick could correct him again.

“I don’t want water.” Rick pouted, picking at the napkin his drink was on.

“What’s your name man?”

“Wick. No, Wwwrrrick.” He giggled, “Arrrrs arrrrrre harrrrd.”

“Well Rick, I’m Daryl and I just watched you fall out of your seat by raising your hand. I think you need water.”

“Daryl. Nice name. Darrrrryyyyyl.” Rick tested the name on his tongue. “You saw into my soul tonight Daryl. That song with the sheets and the black and somebody else’s sky, like, man, it’s like you knew what was happening to me.”

“What do you mean?” Daryl was watching him like a hawk, maybe to make sure he wasn’t going to fall out of his seat again.

Rick smiled a small, sad smile, “All the love gone bad turned my world to black.” That line has been circling in his head all night. “I came home today and you know what I saw? I saw my fucking wife fucking my fucking best friend in our fucking bed! We’ve been married for fifteen fucking years, Daryl. How could she do that to me? To our son? God, our son! He’s only ten and I had to stay there and eat dinner with my son and my cheating wife, as if everything was fucking normal so that he wouldn’t know!” Tears were streaming down his face now and he looked at Daryl as if he could do something about this awful pain in his chest.

Daryl sang that song so Daryl must know something about the pain, how to get rid of it. Daryl was looking right back at him and they stared at each other while Rick tried to get his breathing under control, hiccups escaping as he tried not to sob. Daryl gave him a small nod, as if he came to some agreement with Rick, and stood up.

“Come on. I’m taking you home.”

“Weren’t you listening?! I can’t go home.” Rick’s voice caught on the last word. What was home anymore? Every time he stepped into the house he’d remember what he saw, what he heard. He’d remember the betrayal and heartache. He couldn’t go back yet.

“My home. Now come on.” He put his arm under Rick’s and helped him stand up. Rick wasn’t really sure how gravity worked anymore and was probably leaning almost his whole weight onto Daryl, but Daryl didn’t seem to mind.

They stopped in the parking lot. “Which car is your’s?” Daryl asked.

“Didn’t drive. Rode MARTA. Knew I couln’t drive home.” It was cold. Rick didn’t like being cold. He leaned closer to Daryl. 

“Dammit wait here.” Daryl put Rick on the curb to sit as he went back into the bar. The cold surrounded Rick without Daryl’s body radiating heat. He sniffled, another few tears slipped out.

Daryl came back with a set of keys in his hand and observed Rick crying on the curb. Rick wiped the snot running from his nose. “Daryl, I’m cold. I d-don’t like being cold”

“Oh, brother.” Rick heard Daryl mutter under his breath, “Man, it’s gonna be okay. Merle’s letting me borrow his car. I’ll turn on the heat.” He came and helped Rick off the ground. Rick didn’t think he helped at all considering he wasn’t sure if his legs were still there. He patted them with one hand and nodded. They were, nothing to worry about. Daryl must be strong to have lifted and dragged his dead-weight ass all the way to a faded blue pick-up at the end of the lot with little to no help from him.

“Not what I thought you’d drive.” Rick commented as he was shoved into the passenger seat.

“I usually ride my bike, but there’s no way your drunk ass could stay on that.” Daryl said, nodding to a motorcycle in the next spot over. He slipped into the driver’s seat and gave Rick a once over. “If you’re gonna puke, let me know or do it out the window.” With that, they set off into the night. 

They continued most of the drive with only the radio playing quietly in the background. Rick let the warmth of the cab sink into him and sat mesmerized by the passing lights as they headed inside the perimeter to the heart of the city. They pulled into a garage under one of the buildings and swung into a spot. 

“We’re here.” Daryl said, waking Rick from his daze. They made their way up to Daryl’s apartment and Daryl put him on the couch. “Wait here. I’ll give you something to puke in.”

“I ain’t gonna puke!” Rick laid down and started getting comfy on the couch. Daryl came back with a small trash can and place it on Rick’s head. Rick’s eyes cracked open and saw Daryl starting to walk away with only the lights from the street guiding his way. He reached out and grabbed his hand. Daryl turned and looked down at their connected hands.

“Can you stay until I fall asleep? I don’t want to be alone.” Rick’s voice was a whisper.

Daryl nodded and took a seat on the arm chair next to the couch. Rick watched as he made himself comfortable. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him, but something kept niggling at him.

“Daryl?”

“Yea?”

“Will you be my new best friend? You know, since my old one...” He couldn’t finish. His throat was tightening as he recalled the betrayal and didn’t want to cry again, not over these people.

“Sure Rick, I’ll be your best friend.” With that Rick felt himself relax and thoughts drifted away until there was only the pure oblivion of sleep.

\---

Rick woke with harsh morning light blinding him, pain piercing his brain as soon as he cracked his eyes open. He groaned as his head ache throbbed. His mouth was filled with cotton. What happened? Where was he? He braved opening his eyes again and saw he was on a plush couch in a strange apartment and a glass of water on the coffee table. He guzzled it down in one go and started to feel a little more human. Slowly memories from last night slipped into his waking mind. Lori and Shane’s betrayal, the bar, a gravely voice, him spilling his pain to somebody. Daryl, his new best friend. 

He sat up quickly, and regretted it immediately, but he had to get home. Anger was boiling under his skin and he had to give Lori a piece of his mind. The anger mixed with his headache making him feel like his head would explode, his body fairing no better. He felt like he’d been hit by a bus.

“Mornin’ sleeping beauty. Feeling like hell?” He turned and saw Daryl nursing a mug of coffee in the kitchen. He stared longingly at the coffee. Coffee would make him feel so much better. “There’s more in the pot.” Rick didn’t realize he’d said that out loud. He stood up, wobbling a little and was reminded once again of what put him in this state.

“Can’t. Gotta get home.” His body was tense for a fight as he strode towards the door.

“No, you can’t leave like this. Ain’t gonna lead to anything good. Think of your boy.” Daryl had put himself between him and the door. “Stay for some breakfast.”

Rick took a deep breath and thought of Carl. He couldn’t go storming into the house yelling at Lori. He didn’t want to scare Carl like that. Daryl was right. He needed to cool off. Maybe get rid of this headache while he was at it.

“You’re right. But would you mind if we went to WaHo? I could use a lot of grease right about now.”

Daryl chuckled. “Sure thing.”

The drive to WaHo was quiet and when they seated themselves and ordered, Rick concluded Daryl was a man of few words. He didn’t mind. He may have been good at making useless small talk, but that didn’t mean he wanted to do it all the time. It was nice to meet someone who would probably never complained that he never talked to them, like what does that even mean? He talked to Lori plenty and she still complained about that. Their food arrived and it wasn’t until he was almost done eating that either of them spoke. 

“Thanks for taking care of me, Daryl. I know it’s nobody’s idea of a fun time to take care of a drunk. You could’ve just left me to my fate, but you didn’t, so I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything. It’s what best friends do, right?” Daryl gave him a smile around the bite of waffle he lifted to his mouth.

Rick looked down at his plate and shifted in the booth. Pushing his food around he responded, “Yeah, thanks for that, too. I don’t know if you just agreed because I was drunk or something so I won’t hold you to that.”

“Rick.” Rick looked up and met eyes with Daryl. They were a clear blue. One might’ve called them icy except for how much warmth they held. “I ain’t backing out. You asked me to be your best friend and I said yes. I wouldn’t do that with anyone. There’s somethin’ about you.”

“Thanks man.” Rick gave him a small smile before it dropped and sighed, “Guess I got to go face what’s waiting for me at home. Thanks for everything, Daryl.”

“Why do you sound like you’re trying to get rid of me? Take a seat, Rick. I’m taking you home.”

“It’s okay, I’ll call an Uber. You’ve already done enough.”

“Rick, as your friend, let me take you home. You shouldn’t have to face this alone.”

Rick felt a scratch at the back of his throat , nodding to Daryl because he didn’t think his voice could form around the swell of emotions he was feeling. Soon he’d have to face Lori and Shane, face his son, and here was this man, who’s known him less than a day, trying to comfort him. 

They paid for their breakfast and hopped into Daryl’s truck. Rick noticed his headache from this morning has mostly gone away, but a giant ball of anxiety was forming in his stomach threatening to make is breakfast come back up. He gave directions to Daryl and soon they were pulling up to the curb outside his house. He noticed both Lori’s and Shane’s cars were in the driveway. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he went to open the car door. Daryl’s hand fell onto his shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze.

“Here, man. Take my number. Call if you ever need anything.” Daryl put the WaHo receipt with his number on the back into Rick’s hand before giving him one more comforting pat on his shoulder. Rick nodded a thanks and got out of the car and walked up to his front door. He turned back to the truck and watched it drive down the street. With a deep breath, Rick opened the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter is Black by Pearl Jam. Come say hi at bugontherug-fics.tumblr.com!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! Another month, another chapter! It's been a crazy month and it looks like the next several are also going to be crazy, but I had a hit of inspiration recently so hopefully I'll find some time to write it out. Thank y'all for your comments and I hope you enjoy this next installment!

Rick heard voices from the kitchen as he walked through the front hall. As he made his way around the corner he saw Shane and Lori sitting at the kitchen table with mugs of coffee in front of them. They each fell silent as they watched him enter. 

Shane stood and closed the distance between him and Rick, “Brother.” Rick backed away from him, keeping a safe distance between them.

“Don’t you fucking call me brother. Get out of my house.” Rick said, jaw clenched. The anger from this morning came back with a vengeance. His right hand began to tremble at his side and he tried to remember the calm he found with Daryl that morning. 

“Rick, please man.” Rick grabbed the front of Shane’s shirt and shoved him towards the front door. “Rick!” Lori shouted behind him.

“I said get out.” He fought the urge to punch the traitor in the face.

Shane searched his eyes with a furrowed brow before putting his hands up in surrender. “Sure. I’ll see you later, Rick. Lori.” Shane left, leaving a tense silence behind.

Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He needed to be clear-headed for the conversation he was about to have. The tremble in his hand was getting worse. He wished he could be back at WaHo with Daryl., back where his heart ache was dimmed in the presence of a new friend. Instead he was here, about to do the hardest thing he’s ever done in his life.

“Rick.” Lori’s voice was soft and unsure. Rick let out the breath he was holding and rubbed his forehead. He turned to her and gestured to the table. Rick watched her sit down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He took his seat and watched as she twisted her wedding ring. She avoided his gaze.

“Where’s Carl?”

“He’s spending the day at Patrick’s. I thought we could talk about what happened.” The hope in Lori’s voice broke Rick’s heart further. He loved this woman. Still loves her despite what she’s done. She’s his high school sweetheart, the mother of his son, the woman he thought to be his soul mate. He nodded, glad Carl wasn’t here for this.

“No, I don’t want to talk about what happened. Lori?” He waited for her to look at him. She didn’t. “I want a divorce.” Her head jerked, eyes locking with his.

“That’s...that’s a little impulsive, don’t you think?” Lori’s mouth twitched in a nervous smile.

“No, no I don’t. We’ve tried counseling before and it didn’t work then and it sure as hell won’t work after you...well, after.” Rick couldn’t force himself to voice what happened. God, the pain was so fresh and he didn’t see an end anytime soon. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to pull himself together.

“What about Carl?”

Rick sighed as he thought of his son. How was Carl going to handle this? Does he know? Rick hoped Lori kept whatever she and Shane were doing discrete, but kids were good at picking up on things adults don’t want them to know. Would Carl blame him? “We’ll explain to him that sometimes grown-ups grow apart, fall out of love. We don’t have to mention anything about Shane. We’ll discuss custody and everything when we have lawyers present.”

Lori stared at him as if he was a stranger, a body snatcher with her husband’s face. “You’re serious. You’re actually serious about this.” Shock blossomed on her face, ring frozen mid-twist.

“I am.” Rick felt drained and a hundred years older. He never thought it would come to this.“I can’t see a way past this Lori.” 

“I see.” The twisting resumed. “What now?”

“I think it would be best if you stayed with your parents. We’ll tell Carl,” Rick took a moment to think of an excuse, “ We’ll tell him that they need your help around the house. Just, just until we figure everything out.”

Lori nodded slowly, gaze down. “Okay. We’ll tell Carl at dinner. I’ll call my parents tonight and let them know I’m going over tomorrow.” Lori pushed her chair back and made her way upstairs.

Rick waited until he heard the bedroom door close before dropping his head into his hands. His elbow bumped the mug Shane left. A quick swipe of his arm was followed by the shattering of ceramic on tile. The heels of his hands pressed into his sockets in a futile attempt to stop the tears as sobs began to quietly rack his body.

\---

“Lemonade?”

Daryl looked down at Carol who was holding a tall glass of the drink with a small smile on her face. Daryl wiped the sweat from his forehead and climbed down the ladder. Taking of his work gloves, he took the drink and gulped it down. It was a hot September afternoon and Daryl had been helping around Carol’s yard since early morning. 

He pulled out his phone for what seemed like the millionth time this week. It had been a week since meeting Rick, since giving .him his phone number, and not a single text or call. Rick. Daryl wondered what happened to him after he went into his home. Part of Daryl wished he had tried to convince Rick to stay with him longer, to keep him safely away from the massacre of his heart that was waiting for him inside his house. 

“Where’s your mind gone Pookie?” He glanced over and saw Carol watching him, concern in her brow.

Daryl shrugged, putting his phone away. “Met someone last week after a gig. Just thinking ‘bout them.”

“Oh? What’s he like?” Carol’s voice filled with invested curiosity causing Daryl to frown.

“Nah, it’s not like that Carol.” Daryl rubbed the tension out of his neck. “He was a fucking mess. Drunk as a skunk, falling over. I took him back to my place.”

“Oh, are you thinking of being his sponsor?” Carol had led them to the porch swing, patting the seat next to her. Daryl sat and put the empty cup by his feet.

“No, it’s not like that, I think. He had just found his wife fucking his best friend in their bed.” Daryl squeezed his knee in a mixture of anger and shame. Carol placed her hand over his, urging him to clasp it. He interlocked their fingers and felt himself calming with a few deep breaths.

“How are you doing?”

Daryl snorted, letting her hand go. “It didn’t happen to me.”

“Doesn’t mean it didn’t bring back unpleasant memories for you.” Daryl didn’t say anything, biting at his thumb. “Is that why you helped him?” He answered with a shrug. Was it guilt or kindness that lead Daryl to help Rick? He could’ve left the man to drink himself into unconsciousness, but instead, he took him to his home. 

“I told him I’d be his friend.” Carol waited for him to continue. “I don’t know if he’s actually going to take me up on it. He hasn’t called me.”

“Do you want him to?” Daryl thought on that. It wouldn’t be easy, knowing what Rick was going through. Was he the kind of person that could offer someone like Rick support and comfort? Was he even capable if he wanted to be that person?

“Yea, I do. There’s something about him, Carol.” Daryl hadn’t clicked so easily with someone since he met Carol. Hopefully, Rick felt the same. The ball was in Rick’s court whether or not this connection would grow. “I’m scared though, that he’s not going to like the real me.” 

Carol’s hand found him again. “You’re not that person anymore. If he’s really something, he’ll understand that.”

Daryl nodded, not quite agreeing, but not willing to have this argument again. Carol moved to lay her head comfortingly on his shoulder. In his pocket, he felt his phone buzz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi at bugontherug-fics.tumblr.com!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? A new chapter?!
> 
> Hello everyone! I'm back! It's been a crazy few months finishing up my Master's but it's over! I did it! Good-bye homework hello world! In celebration I give you a new chapter! Thanks for all the lovely comments! It's been lovely writing these two again and I hope y'all enjoy.

_How do you feel about watching kids kick a ball around while awkwardly avoiding my ex-friend and soon to be ex-wife?_

_This is Rick btw_

_From the bar_

Rick glanced at his phone again, waiting for a response. Maybe he shouldn’t have texted Daryl. Or maybe he should’ve worded it differently, less desperate, more enticing. Because really, who wants to willing put themselves in an awkward situation for someone they barely know? Rick rubbed his hand over his face with a groan. When Lori called him telling him that she and Shane were coming to Carl’s soccer match this afternoon, Rick panicked. His first thought was Daryl and he impulsively texted him. 

Rick had been resisting the temptation to text or call Daryl all week. Even though Daryl assured him that he wanted to be Rick’s friend and to call if he needed him, Rick felt he was imposing himself on the man. His life was falling apart so how could he possibly build anything that would last? He couldn’t handle losing anything else right now. Maybe that’s why he’s scared of reaching out, because of the possibility that he has more baggage than Daryl could handle and the man walks away.

Rick’s musings were interrupted by a ping from his phone. He hesitated to check the message, but curiosity won out.

_When and where?_

Relief flooded through Rick. He took a sip of coffee and allowed himself a moment to look forward to watching his son play soccer tomorrow with a friend.

\---

Rick stood near the parking lot anxiously, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He dropped Carl off at the field for warm up drills ten minutes ago and had been checking his phone since in case Daryl got lost. 

His stomach dropped as he saw a familiar blue Highlander pull in. Shane and Lori got out and Shane walked straight to him with Lori hesitantly following. _God, do they not have any shame?_ Anger joined the anxiety and Rick was sure his heart was going to pop with how hard his blood was pumping through him.

“Lori. Shane.” Rick greeted when they reached him.

“Hi Rick. How are you?” Lori asked quietly.

“Fine, just fine.” he said, hoping they’d move on. He looked out towards the parking lot again nervously.

“You can’t avoid us forever Rick. We have to figure things out.” Shane said, crossing his arms. Rick frowned. He always hated how Shane postured like an alpha male and hated it even more now.

“Lori and I have things to figure out. And we’ll figure them out in the presence of our lawyers. So yea, I can avoid you forever if I wanted to.” Rick felt the strain in his fingers and relaxed his hands.

“The shit we don’t have things to figure out. I’m planning on being in Carl’s life and we need to figure this shit out together.” Shane had released his arms and stalked towards Rick getting into his space. 

Before Rick could respond or punch the bastard, the loud growl of a motorcycle had each of them turning towards the parking lot entrance. A blanket of relief fell on Rick as the motorcyclist removed his helmet revealing Daryl.

“God, what is this hick bastard doing here?” Shane growled out. Rick never wanted to punch anyone so bad. He left Shane and Lori, walking to greet Daryl. 

Daryl swung his leg over the bike and put his helmet on the handlebar. “Man, what crawled up their asses?” Daryl said in lieu of greeting.

“Somethin’ rotten I’m sure.” Rick pulled Daryl in for a hug. He felt the man tense under him before returning it. He didn’t care if it was awkward hugging the guy after knowing him a night. He needed some comfort after that small conversation. “Thank god you’re here. I was about to punch the bastard and cause a scene.”

“That would’ve been entertaining to see.” Daryl pulled himself from Rick’s embrace. “Come on. Let’s get some snacks and find some seats. Then you can explain to me why you let your son play soccer instead of baseball, or wrestling.”

They started making their way towards the concession stand, ignoring the looks Shane and Lori cast them. “You got something against soccer?” Rick asked, mock affronted. 

“They’re kicking a ball around. Where’s the skill?” Daryl ordered hot dogs, soft pretzels, and coke for each of them and handed over some cash. “All I’m saying is that he could be learning something cool, like Krav Maga or kick boxing and instead you have him kicking a ball.”

They took their snacks and headed over to the stands already filling up with parents and siblings. “I’ll have you know it’s more than just kicking a ball. Come join my soccer league for a match some time.” 

“Only if you come to one of my Krav Maga classes.”  
“Deal.” They stared at each other a few moments before the referee’s whistle announced the beginning of the match.

\---

The match ended with a tie. Rick can’t remember the last time he enjoyed one of Carl’s matches so much. Before, Lori would always try to talk to him throughout the game, about chores that needed to get done or a tv show she had been watching, when all Rick wanted to do was watch his son play. With Daryl, they both watched the game intensely, sharing commentary about the players and the plays. It was fun. And Rick was realizing as he waited with Daryl by the parking lot how long it’s been since he’s had fun.

Sure he had his soccer league, which was made up of pretty fun guys, but he was never able to join them for drinks afterwards or any team parties or barbecues since Lori didn’t want him to be gone that long or want to hang out with his friends.

Rick was pulled from his thoughts as Daryl bumped his shoulder, pointing towards his son who was running right towards him. He squatted down to embrace him and swung him around. “You did great Carl! That goal was amazing!”

“Thanks dad! That trick you showed me really helped. Who’s this?” Carl eyed Daryl with suspicion. Rick could understand why. Daryl, with his ripped jeans, work boots, and sweaty white t-shirt with a leather jacket on his arm, looked nothing like the adults he and Lori usually introduce him to.

“This is my friend Daryl. I invited him to hang out and watch your game.”

Daryl reached out a hand to shake Carl’s smaller one. “Pleasure to meet you. You’re a great soccer player.”

Carl’s smile could blind. “Thanks. It’s ‘cuz my dad’s the best soccer player ever.” His small chest puffed out in pride and Rick could feel his heart swelling with love. “Why are you caring that jacket around? It’s hot out.”

“I rode my bike here.” Daryl said, pointing at his bike in the parking lot. “It gets cold sometimes when riding and if I fall it has some extra padding to protect me from road rash and such.”

“You ride a motorcycle?!” Carl’s eyes widened, looking at Daryl like he was the coolest person ever. Rick would feel jealous if he wasn’t too busy feeling proud that his son thinks his new friend is cool. “Can I ride it?!”

Daryl looks hesitantly at Rick. “It’s up to your dad. I take my friend’s daughter for rides around the block. She’s about your age.”

“Dad? Pleeeeeease, please, please, please?!” Carl begged, hands gripped together, leaning back, almost falling from Rick’s arms.

“Okay, okay! Just make sure you listen to Daryl and do whatever he says, alright?” Rick put Carl down and put his hands on his hips, trying for a stern ‘I’m your father and you better listen’ face.

“Alright! Come on Daryl!” Carl grabbed Daryl’s hand pulling him away from Rick. He gave Rick a small smile before turning to show Carl around the bike. Rick watched them thinking how this day turned out better than he hoped.

That feeling quickly dissipated when Lori arrived. She grabbed his arm pulling him down to her height and angrily whispered, “What the hell do you think you’re doing, letting him get on a bike with a strange man?!” 

He looked towards Daryl, who had pulled out a child sized helmet and jacket for Carl and was putting a thing around his waist with handles on it. His heart lifted slightly at the sight before processing Lori’s words.

“He’s not a strange man, he’s my friend! And he’s done this before. Look! He even has safety gear that fits Carl!” The bike engine revved and they were off. Carl, behind Daryl holding on the the handles at Daryl’s waist, was laughing and yelling as they circled the parking lot. “And Carl’s enjoying it.”

“Shane told me about him! He and his brother are bad news and I don’t want him around Carl!” 

Rick was angry. He was angry that Shane somehow knew Daryl before him, knew more about him. He was angry that Lori thought he would let Carl be harmed by any of his friends. He was angry, period.

“I don’t care what Shane told you. I don’t want to know what he’s told you. Daryl is a good guy and I would never, _never_ let something bad happen to Carl.” Rick growled out, pulling his arm from her grasp.

Before she could respond, Carl come running up. “Mom, mom, did you see me?!”

As Lori put on a fake smile to talk to her son, Rick turned away and tried to get control over his anger. Daryl come up quietly behind him, startling him with a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yes...no.” Rick gave him a helpless smile. “I think I need to go.”

“No problem. Give me a call. Or text. I mean it. I had fun.” Daryl gave his shoulder a squeeze with a smile. Rick felt himself relax under the solid weight of Daryl’s hand.

“Okay. And the same for you.”

“Sure thing.” With one more pat Daryl let go. They returned to Lori and Carl where Shane had joined them. He stood, arms crossed, glaring at Daryl.

“Carl, time to head home. Come say goodbye to Daryl.”

“Awww, do I have to? Can’t he come eat dinner with us?” Carl pouted.

“Sorry kid, already have dinner plans. It was nice ta meet ya though.” Rick felt a twinge of disappointment and something else. He shook it off watching as Carl came over and surprised Daryl with a hug.

“Bye Daryl. I hope we can hang out again with your motorcycle.” Rick couldn’t help the wide grin spreading across his face.

“Jeez kid, let me know how you really feel.” Daryl sassed, returning the hug.

They all watched as Daryl pulled out with his bike, Rick and Carl waving him off. They said their goodbyes to Lori and Shane, Rick reminding Lori of their meeting with the lawyers on Tuesday when Shane distracted Carl.

In the car on the way home Carl said, “I really like Daryl, dad.”

“Do you like Daryl or do you like his bike?” he teased.

“Both! He’s so cool! I hope he thinks were cool too and hangs out with us again.”

“I’m sure he does. Who’s cooler than us?” Rick didn’t understand the feeling in his chest when he thought about how well Carl and Daryl got along, but it was a good feeling and he’s had little of those recently so he doesn’t plan on questioning it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on tumblr at bugontherug-fics.tumblr.com!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! A few things. First, for those wondering about the past domestic abuse tag, it's never going to be physical in this work. It'll be more emotional abuse and manipulation and I'm not sure yet if I'm ever going to explicitly have it happen in the fic, but it will be hinted at throughout. Similar for the past child abuse, Daryl had a SOB of a father like canon but nothing graphic will be described in this work.
> 
> Second note, the song in this chapter is Get Better by Frank Turner with pronouns changed to fit my needs.
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos! Please enjoy!

“Hello, Earth to Daryl. What’s got your panties in a twist, brother?” Merle was snapping his fingers in Daryl’s face. Daryl shoved him away with a grunt.

“It’s nothin’” It wasn’t nothing. Daryl hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Rick and his situation. The guilt and shame had been so overwhelming recently that Daryl had to schedule another appointment with Dr. Greene for the next week instead of the tri-weekly he was at. _Progress isn’t linear,_ Daryl reminded himself. He’s been repeating that phrase since Dr. Greene said it during a session last year. Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it doesn’t.

“Well, whatever it is, you got it, little brother. We Dixon men are made of tough stuff.” Daryl’s heart warmed. His brother may be rough and prickly on the outside, but he’s nothing but a soft marshmallow on the inside for those he cares about. Daryl is thankful every day that he and Merle reconnected. “Now quit spacing out and plug the amp in, we got a show.” Merle gave him a heavy smack on the back before going up the stage. Daryl did as he was told, checked that his guitar was tuned and followed his brother. At the mic, Daryl tried looking past the stage lights to the audience.

“Hey, we’re the Walking Dead. Glad you could join us tonight.” Daryl strummed the first note of the first song and let the music take him.

Nearing the end of their set, Daryl was getting psyched up. The last song was close to his heart and he was always nervous playing it in front of a crowd. It felt too much like baring his soul for anyone to see, but the euphoric release of the emotions that built within him was worth it every time. “I want to thank everyone again for being here. We’re the Walking Dead and we hope you enjoy this last song.”

_I got me a shovel_  
_And I'm digging a ditch_  
_And I'm going to fight for this four square feet of land like a mean old son of a bitch_  
_I got me a future_  
_I'm not stuck on the past_  
_I got no new tricks, yeah I'm up on bricks but me_  
_I'm a machine and I was built to last_

_I'm trying to get better because I haven't been my best_  
_He took a plain black marker, started writing on my chest_  
_He drew a line across the middle of my broken heart_  
_And said, “Come on now, let's fix this mess”_  
_We could get better_  
_Because we're not dead yet_

God, he was a mess back then. He’d been a mess most of his life, but he really hit rock bottom at twenty-nine. Most of that year was experienced in a haze of alcohol and what he did remember made him cringe. He’s come so far since then. Became something he never would’ve imagined he could be.

_They threw me a whirlwind_  
_And I spat back the sea_  
_I took a battering but I've got thicker skin and the best people_  
_I know looking out for me_  
_So I'm taking the high road_  
_My engines running high and fine_  
_May I always see the road rising up to meet me_  
_And my enemies defeated in the mirror behind_

He never would’ve made it out of the hell pit he called life without Ab, Dr. Greene, Carol and Merle there to support him. He’ll be forever grateful to them, especially Ab, who saw something in him at his first AA meeting and stuck with him through all his bullshit.

_So try and get better and don't ever accept less_  
_Take a plain black marker and write this on your chest_  
_Draw a line underneath all of this unhappiness_  
_Come on now, let's fix this mess_  
_We could get better_  
_Because we're not dead yet_  
_We could get better_  
_Because we're not dead yet_

Daryl ended the song feeling emotionally wrung out, but better than he has in weeks. He was packing his guitar, considering heading out early when he heard a friendly voice call out.

“Hey, Daryl!” Rick called from a nearby table. “Got you a coke!” Daryl locked his case and wandered over and gracefully fell into the seat.

“Plain coke? No rum?” Daryl couldn’t be too sure.

“Just a coke. Remembered from last time.” Rick said with a wink.

“How the fuck could you remember that? You were trashed!” Daryl couldn’t help the awe in his voice. He was sure Rick was close to black out that night.

“Got a mind like a steel trap. Makes me a good cop.” Rick said tapping his temple. Daryl couldn’t help but tense at that. That must be how Rick knows that douchenugget that fucked his wife. Daryl was proud he didn’t bolt when he saw Officer Dickface at the soccer game last weekend. Daryl forced himself to relax. He hasn’t done anything to get him in trouble for years. He’s fine, everything’s fine. “Are you alright?” Rick was looking at him with concern furrowing his brow.

“Yea, sorry. It’s been a long night.” Daryl looked away and took a sip of his coke. If that dick hadn’t already told Rick about him then he was going to keep his mouth shut for now. “I didn’t think you were going to make it.” They had been texting on and off since Carl’s soccer match and he inserted the time of his next gig hoping Rick would come but didn’t receive a solid answer.

“Yea, Lori and I sat down with Carl yesterday to tell him about the divorce and he took it a little hard and wanted to spend the night with Lori and her parents.” Rick took a sip of his beer and Daryl wanted to smooth the furrow between his brows.

“Sorry man. Wanna talk ‘bout it?” Daryl drew some circles on the table with the condensation from his glass. He may be better talking about his feelings than he was a few years ago, but helping others with theirs is still new.

He watched as Rick ran a hand through his curls and leaned back in his chair. “So far I think he’s taking well. We didn’t tell him exactly why, but he seemed to understand that his mom and I aren’t working and just needs some time to get used to it. As for the divorce, Lori and I have a meeting with our lawyers this week to work things out.”

“If ya need a family lawyer, I have someone who’s the real deal when it comes to custody issues.” That got him a toothy smile.

“Thanks, Daryl. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Me too.” The emotions Daryl released during his set were slowly filling him back up. He tapped a tune on his glass as his leg kept tempo trying to think of something else to talk about.

“I really liked that last song you played. You sang it with a lot of passion.” He winced, “Not that you don’t always sing with passion, just a little extra this time.”

God, there was no escaping it then. Daryl rubbed the back of his neck, face in a grimace as he thought how to explain it.

“It’s my song.” Daryl frowned as Rick gave a little chuckle. “Nah, I mean, yea I wrote it, but it’s _my song_ , ya know? It _means_ something to me.” Rick turned serious as he continued talking; back straight and piercing blue eyes focused on him. “I’m not the man I was three years ago. I was a fucking mess, had been for most of my life and I wrote this song when I finally felt like things were getting better.”

He looked away and took a deep breath. “I’m an alcoholic and back then I was a drunk. I was in a relationship with a wonderful man,” he looked through his lashes trying to gauge a reaction and got none, “We met before I got really bad and I think that’s the only reason he stayed as long as he did.”

Daryl leaned back, wiping a hand over his face. He hated talking about Paul, always felt like shit after and he goddamn deserved it. “I was never violent, but I was angry. I took advantage of his kindness when I got laid off, I yelled bullshit at him all the time, and I cheated on him like crazy. I don’t know if he knew about every one of them, but he caught me and ending things. He put up with my shit for a year. Shoulda left my sorry ass the first time he found me drunk as a skunk at noon.” He gave a humorless laugh. “I was homeless for three months before I wandered into an AA meeting for some free coffee and doughnuts. Met Ab and changed my life.” Daryl couldn’t even look at Rick as he finished.

He startled as Rick’s large calloused hand covered his own on the table. He looked up into sympathetic blue eyes. “Thanks for sharing that with me, Daryl. Must’a’ve been tough to go through what you’ve been through.”

Daryl cast his eyes downward and clenched his free hand. “I understand if you don’t want a mess like me around you and your son. I like our friendship and it didn’t feel right not letting you know what I am.”

“Shut up.” Rick’s hand tightened over his. “No one talks shit about my best friend.” Daryl looked up into a smile warm as sunshine. “As you said before, you’re not the man from back then. The man I know takes care of a crying drunk and shows up to awkward soccer games to be a barrier between a friend and his ex. The man I know is a good man.” Daryl felt his throat tightening as he watched Rick frown at his beer. “Should I not be drinking this?”

Daryl gave his first real laugh of the night, the weight from the past several weeks lifted by Rick’s little speech. “Nah man, I know the nights I need to stay away from bars.” Rick’s smile returned.

After a few beats of just smiling at each other like idiots, Daryl cleared his throat. “So when are ya gonna take me up on my offer of learning Krav Maga?”

“Well I don’t know,” he drawled. “I got a thriving social life so I’ll need to check my calendar.” Opening his hands like a book, he licks his finger and flips through imaginary pages. “Oh man, looks like I’m booked forever.” Rick gave him a mischievous grin. _What a dork._

“Well then, guess you just forfeited the right to call soccer a sport.” Daryl leaned his cheek on his hand with a smirk.

With a straight face and staring into Daryl’s eyes, Rick flipped through his imaginary book. “Well, will you look at that. Seems I’m free in two weeks to kick your ass.” Daryl could only laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! New update! And it's the second longest chapter of the story! A little side plot wormed its way into this story that I didn't have planned. It's going to be the most "action-y" thing I've ever written for a fic so let me know how it goes as it continues :) Enjoy!

Rick took a bite out of his Big Mac and watched the cars pass by his spot in the McDonald’s parking lot. He was given a small moment of peace as he washed his bite down with some coke before his partner broke the silence.

“So, how are things going with Lori?”

Rick sighed, taking another bite. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to avoid this conversation forever. When he attempted to take another bite to keep his mouth full, his partner cleared her throat and he sighed again before looking over. Michonne was picking at her salad with her feet up on the dashboard, giving him a side-eye.

Michonne and him had been partners for half the time he’s been working for the APD and she was the first person he told about Lori–after his drunken sob story to Daryl. The Monday he went back to work, Rick couldn’t have been gladder that the Captain kept Shane and him from being partners due to their shared history. 

“Almost everythang has been settled except for custody of Carl.” Rick picked apart a french fry and tossed half of it into his mouth. “I don’t have to pay alimony considering the situation, and Lori gets the house.”

“Wait, what?!” Michonne sat up, putting her feet on the floor, almost losing her salad. She was turned to him with shocked eyes and he slouched further under her gaze.

“I can’t stay in that house, Michonne.” Rick said, averting his eyes and picking at more fries. “Every time I walk in, I’m reminded of what was done in _my_ house. I haven’t been able to sleep in my bedroom since that night.

“Okay, that makes sense. But why is Carl an issue?” she asked, settling back into her seat.

Rick ate another couple fries before continuing. “I think it’s in Carl’s best interest if I had full custody since Lori has been a stay-at-home mom for the last eleven years and needs time to figure thangs out. I told her we can re-negotiate when that happens, but she’s arguing that Carl needs his mom more than his dad and that her parents can support them. I really don’t want to drag Carl into a court hearing after everythang he’s already been through.”

“Have I ever told you how much of a bitch your ex can be?” 

“Michonne–” 

“No, Rick, I’ve been holding my tongue since I’ve known you but now that you’re separated I’m going to speak my mind!” Everyone at the station has been speaking their mind since he told them. “You’ve worked hard and put in long hours, that _she_ always complained about, to make enough, that was never enough for _her_ , so that Carl would never be wanting anything. You are an _amazing_ father and Carl needs _you_.”

A small knot untwisted in his chest at Michonne’s words. “Thanks, Michonne. I needed to hear that.”

“Damn straight! That woman gets all up in your head making you think stupid, untrue, _bullshit_ so stop listening to her. You fight for Carl. He’ll understand someday.” Michonne smiled at him putting a comforting hand on his arm. He nodded his thanks.

After a moment of silence, Michonne said, “So...”

“So?”

She turned to face him, tucking a leg under her. “There is a betting pool at the station.”

“Is it how many bags of Twizzlers Tara is going to go through before finishing her case? I already guessed three.” Rick said with a smile.

“No, this is a new one. About you.” She smiled at him like a cat who got the cream. His brow furrowed.

“Me?”

“We’ve all noticed you’ve been smiling a lot over who you’ve been texting during your lunch break. We’ve been betting on who it could be.” Rick sighed and slouched further into his seat.

“Can’t you guys keep your noses out of everythang?”

“No. Now spill! Who is it? Eugene thinks it’s a phone sex operator, Rosita thinks it’s your lawyer telling you wonderful news about screwing over Lori, and Tara thinks you’re just watching cat videos.”

“What do you think?”

“I think you’ve met a special someone.” She teased bopping his nose. He smacked her hand away making her laugh.

“Well, it is someone special, but it’s not like that. Daryl is my new best friend. We’ve been chatting is all. He’s a funny guy.” Rick answered with a shrug. “He’s been there for me throughout this whole Lori and Shane thang. We’re actually meeting up tonight after my shift to go to a Krav Maga class.” 

“So that’s it? Just a friend?” She looked at him with skepticism.

“Yes. Just friends. Anyway, I’m not like that.”

“Like what?”

“Gay, I’m not gay.”

“You could be bi.” She said with a shrug. Rick paused to think on that. He only dated a few girls before Lori and, sure, he has admired some guys’ muscles and physique but every dude does that...right?

Rick was startled from his thoughts by the police radio. _Calling all units. A 10-71at 617 Memorial Dr._

“You ready for this?” Michonne asked him, reaching for the radio. He taps his bullet-resistant vest as an answer. “Copy. 412 heading to the scene.” Rick flipped on the lights and sirens as they pulled out of the parking lot, throwing their trash out on the way.

\---

They arrived at Buddy’s gas station, making note of the man pacing in front of his parked sedan. Getting out of the car, Michonne yelled over, “Sir!” The man turned and saw them approaching, Rick with his hand ready to pull his gun if needed.

“Thank god you’re here!” The man ran his hands over his head and stopped pacing to point at the empty plaza next to the gas station. “I was mindin’ my business, fillin’ up my tank when BOOM! a gun went off somewhere ova’ there. There were like fifteen bikes parked over there and everyone scrammed soon afta’.”

They asked the man a few more questions, if he recognized anyone, saw anyone clearly enough to make a description, anything else that could be useful, before letting the man go and driving over to the empty plaza. It consisted of five abandoned storefronts, windows boarded and covered in graffiti. Rick had parked at the middle store and they got out, gun in hand. Rick motioned for Michonne to head one way while he went the other. 

He checked the stores for any tampered with doors or windows to determine which one the gunshot and men might have come from. Reaching the last store, Rick saw the door held open by an old clothes hangar and has he got closer he could hear yelling drifting through the crack.

“Come on! Hurry up! Police could be arrivin’ any minute thanks to Simon’s little screw-up!” A deep voice shouted. “And don’t you dare open your fucking mouth! I don’t wanna hear any of your shit excuses!” 

Rick approached the door, gun forward, and slowly opened it a bit until he saw four men. They were in a small department store, racks and mannequins in disarray. Three of the men were rushing about, pulling maps and papers off the walls while the fourth leaned against an empty jewelry case tapping a barbed wire covered bat against his boot.

“Simon! You head to the Super 8 on Jonesboro and grab the girls. Phillip! You go to the Motel 6 on Chamblee Tucker.” The plaid-wearing man with a handlebar mustache and the tall man with an eye-patch both nodded, grabbing things and headed out a back door.

“Dispatch. Calling for back up at the plaza by 617 Memorial Dr. Suspects on the move.” Rick whispered into his radio watching the last two men. The man with the bat stood and put it over his shoulder as he approached the last man. He was a small, mouse-like man who cowered before the man with the bat.

“As for you, Milton, you need to let our driver know that plans have changed and we’re movin’ tonight. If things don’t go swimmingly tonight, you’ll end up like poor Martinez here.” The taller man kicked what Rick first thought was a fallen mannequin, but now saw the dark puddle it was lying in.

The smaller man whimpered out a “Yes, sir!” before scurrying out the back. As the man with the bat swaggered towards the door whistling, Rick realized that back up wasn’t going to arrive in time. He saw Michonne running towards him several stores down, but Rick had to make his move.

Bursting through the door, “Police, freeze!” Rick shouted with his gun pointed at the center of the man’s back. He stopped and lifted his hands up shoulder height. “Drop the bat!” The man laughed.

“I don’t think so. Get ‘im boys!” The man ducked and ran as the mustache man and eye patch man appeared through the doorway and began shooting. Rick shot a few rounds as he moved back, trying to find cover behind the mannequins and empty racks. Something heavy hit him on his right side, knocking the breath out of him causing him to hit the ground. Soon after he hears Michonne enter the room yelling his name and firing a few shots. The shooting stopped as the men got away and Michonne came and dropped to her knees next to him.

“Dispatch! 11-41 officer down!” Michonne called into the radio. “Rick! Rick! Are you alright?!” Her hands frantically ran over him trying to find the wound.

“God! Hurts like a mother! Hit the vest on my side.” Rick responded through clenched teeth.

“Stay still. The ambulance will be here soon.” Michonne squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. Rick reached for her hand and held it, both needing it. 

“The men. They said something about girls. At Super 8 on Jonesboro and Motel 6 on Chamblee Tucker. That’s where two of them are headed.” Rick struggled to get out.

“Shh, I’ll call it in. You stay calm and awake.” Rick waited with Michonne, time seemed to pass without him. He was shot. And he was alive! The adrenalin leaving his body had him exhausted by the time the medics arrived. 

“I don’t think you’re making it to your date tonight.” Michonne teased as the EMTs strapped Rick onto a gurney. Rick could only groan in response.

\---

Michonne sat on the chair next to Rick’s hospital bed holding onto his hand as they waited for the doctor to come back. “No one called Lori, right?”

“No, you weren’t in any kind of danger so we thought it was best to wait for you.” Rick sighed, relaxing into the bed, before tensing again with a groan.

“What am I going to tell her? She’s going to use this against me to get Carl!” Rick took his hand back to rub his hands over his face and pull at his curls.

“Rick!” Michonne said, pulling Rick’s arms down. “In your whole career as a police officer, how many times have you been shot?”

“This was the first time.” Rick said softly, sinking into the bed as understanding filtered in.

“Exactly! See? Nothing to worry about.” She said tapping his hand encouragingly. The door opened with Dr. S sweeping in and clipping Rick’s x-ray up on the screen.

“Well, Mr. Grimes, you’re walking out of here with some massive bruising and a mild concussion. I’ve prescribed some medication for the pain, but time and rest are the only things that will heal this.” Dr. S said. 

“Thanks Dr. S.” Rick shook the doctor's hand before he left to attend to other patients. Rick got up and went behind a screen to change back into his uniform. He paused putting on his shirt to stare at the bruising covering his right side. It started at the point where the bullet hit him in a dark, blue-purple circle and spread into different levels of bruising, like the seven levels of hell. It was not a pretty sight. Rick pulled on his shirt and rejoined Michonne.

“Boss wants us to come in and debrief. You feeling up to it?” she said, pushing her chair back to stand up.

“Yea, give me a sec.” He said pulling out his phone.

“Gonna text your friend~?”Michonne singsonged.

“Shut up.” Rick could feel his cheeks heating.

_Hey Daryl. Something came up with work and I can’t make it tonight. Can we reschedule?_

\---

Rick and Michonne were seated in a conference room with Sasha and Bob having finished describing what happened while Captain Monroe stood at the front pacing.

“Officer Grimes seems to have stumbled upon a human trafficking ring in our own backyard. We didn’t find anyone at the Super 8, seems like the manager had no clue what was happening in his motel. We did get officers to the Motel 6 in time to save two girls, ages 14 and 15. The girls are fine and we’re contacting their parents. But the man coming to get them never showed. Might’ve been scared away by the squad cars.

Now, they each told us a similar story of how a man came up to them one day telling them they could be models and drove them to a couple legit modeling gigs. Then one day he claimed they had a gig out of state and to pack up and that’s when they ended up here in Atlanta.

I brought in Detectives Stookey and Williams for this debrief because they’ll be taking over the case.” The Captain stopped and made eye contact with Rick. “They might need you to identify the men you saw.” Looking out over everyone she continued, “This has been a huge problem for our city and we have a lead that will hopefully lead to many arrests and save many girls. So keep your eyes and ears open. I’ll be holding a briefing tomorrow to inform the squad. Everyone dismissed.” 

Michonne stood and helped Rick out of his chair and was leading him out of the room when the Captain called out, “Rick, could you stay a minute?” Ricked nodded Michonne ahead and turned around.

“Yes ma’am?”

“Don’t forget you have to make an appointment with one of our counselors.” Rick was not looking forward to that after his experience with marriage counseling. He hadn’t really stopped to think about what had happened to him and he forced his mind to stay in the present now. He could think about it later. Much later.

“Yes, ma’am.” She gave him a hard, considering look.

“Dismissed. Get some rest. You’ll be on desk duty for a couple weeks until you’re cleared by the counselor.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rick turned and got out of there as quick as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where's Carl in all this? At his grandparents!  
> What's next? Daryl reacts to injured!Rick


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this?! Another update?! What a treat! Thank y'all for being so sweet and dealing with my sporadic updates. I was debating just holding on to this and continue writing so I could have "regularly scheduled updates" but I can't NOT share.
> 
> Disclaimer: I've never taken a class in Krav Maga and so I used the following videos for reference if you would like to see the moves I described.  
> [ Gun move](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-HUxeIxFsQ) and the first 2:30 minutes to see ["L"-arm lock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EHnCVfdXJ4)
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Daryl paced in the empty gym, the only noises were his sneakers squeaking and gym shorts swishing . Goosebumps formed on his arms, his black muscle shirt doing nothing to protect him from the cool gym air.

He re-read the texts from Rick to make sure he got the time right. Rick was twenty minutes late and hadn’t sent any word about his delay. Daryl was a little disappointed when Rick canceled last week and was looking forward to seeing him again. Now he was worried since Rick didn’t seem like the kind of guy to stand someone up and was at work before this. He knew cops didn’t have the safest jobs and was starting to imagine the worst when the door to the gym was thrown open and an out-of-breath Rick jogged towards him.

“Sorry I’m late. Carl got into a fight at school so Lori and I had to meet with the principal.” Rick sighed, throwing his gym bag under a bench.

“ S’fine. Is Carl okay?” Daryl asked, biting at his thumb. He really wanted to ask if Rick was okay. He looked exhausted; dark bags under his eyes, hair in disarray, and paler than usual. Daryl watched as the other man pinched the bridge of his nose before swiping a hand over his face.

“No. He’s taking things pretty hard, what with Lori pushing for a custody hearing and me telling him we need to start looking at new houses. He got pretty upset over that, telling me he wasn’t moving or looking at boring houses with me before storming to his room.” Rick sighed again, running his hand through his curls making them wilder. Daryl knew from their text conversations how much this custody battle was hurting Rick and hated seeing the effects it had on him.

“Change is hard for everyone. He’ll come ‘round.” Daryl tried to reassure him. He received a small smile of thanks before Rick clapped his hands, a rejuvenating energy seeming to fill the tired man.

“Okay! Let’s do this!” Rick looked around as if noticing for the first time they were alone. “Where’s the teacher? And the rest of the class?”

Daryl huffed out a chuckle. “I’m the instructor and you’re my class. Come on.” He waved him over to the mats.

\---

Daryl lead Rick through a warm up to get his blood flowing and some sweat dripping from the other man’s curls. He started by walking him through the basic stances and some punches and kicks. 

When they moved on to self-defense moves, Daryl had Rick repeating them over and over until he moved through them fluidly like it was second nature. While waiting for Rick, his paranoia had him running through what self-defense moves might be most useful for the cop and as he watched the man absorb them, something in him settled.

“Okay. Now the last move I want to cover tonight is how to defend against a gun in yer face.” Daryl said pulling out a prop gun.

Rick was bent over, leaning his hands on his knees, watching Daryl as he huffed for air. Exertion brought lively color to his face under a sheen of sweat. Though his body screamed exhaustion, his deep blue eyes projected challenge, standing as Daryl walked over to him. The man was beautifully in his prime and Daryl felt a jolt of arousal watching this sweaty man reclaim his breath. 

Shoving the thought aside, Daryl came up to Rick and raised the prop to the cop’s forehead with his right hand. “First, what two things can we assume will happen when you touch the gun?” he asked. Some color drained from the cop’s face as he swallowed and licked his lips. 

“It goes off and your arm goes back.” Rick rasped out. Daryl lowered the gun concerned.

“You need some water?” Rick gave a jerky nod and grabbed a water bottle from his bag, guzzling half of it. Daryl felt a pang of guilt for not giving Rick more breaks throughout their session, something he’ll have to remember if they do this again. Rick came back looking determined.

“Okay, what’s next?” Daryl handed him the prop gun.

“Hold it at me.” Once it was in position, Daryl started to explain his movements. “First you want to get out of the way so duck down. While doing that you want to grab the gun with both hands making a “u”-shape as such.” Daryl grasped onto the gun with his head down and knees bent. “At the same time, you’ll be doing a groin kick so make sure your feet are balanced like I showed you earlier.” He repeated the motion with the kick. “Now plant the foot you kicked with and take a step to put the attacker off balance. While doing that you are rotating the gun and pushing it towards him and then rotating it out of his hand and making space between you two.” Daryl demonstrated it slowly and backed away. “Since you’ll have your own gun on hand, secure the weapon and pull out yours. Any questions?” Rick shook his head. “Alright, your turn.”

Daryl talked Rick through the steps, moving slowly the first few times before having him repeat, and repeat, and repeat. The worst scenario that ran through Daryl’s head was a gas station hold up with Rick defenseless in the face of a gun. When he was satisfied he put the prop away.

“You’re a quick learner.” he said watching Rick finish off his bottle of water. Some spilled from his lips down his chin and Daryl couldn’t help but track the water before Rick wiped it away with the back of his hand.

“Thank you, you’re a great teacher.” he said with a wink. Daryl snorted.

“Brown-noser.” 

“Always was a teacher’s pet.” Rick shrugged with a smile. Rick was slouching with exhaustion, but he had an air of peace and relaxation surrounding him like he had a good fuck. Daryl turned his gaze away in frustration. This man was going through a divorce for god’s sake. To make a move now would be taking advantage of his emotional vulnerability. Not to mention they’re _just friends!_. Daryl needed to get a hold of himself. He hadn’t been with anyone since Paul so it was no wonder he was having these thoughts about his attractive friend. He just had to remind himself of this and the fact that Rick wasn’t into guys.

“Okay, so we’re done for today.” Daryl started before Rick interrupted.

“Wait! Before we stop, can we spar a little? So I can practice some moves without you telling me what to do?” 

“Smart thinking officer, let’s go back to the mats.” They sparred for a bit, Daryl proud of how quickly Rick was thinking on his feet and countering all of Daryl’s moves. He could sense the cop getting tired and a little sloppy and Daryl thought it was time to call it. A part of him wanted to show off a little so he said, “Tap when it hurts,” and swiped Rick’s feet in his confusion, causing him to fall onto his back. Daryl then got into the mounted position and put him in an “L”-arm lock waiting for the tap that came a second later. Leaning back he smiled at Rick’s bewildered expression.

“Not fair! We didn’t cover this!” 

Daryl laughed. “Just means you gotta come back fer more lessons!” He was getting up when he noticed bruises that were revealed when Rick’s shirt rode up. “What the fuck?” he whispered under his breath. He quickly dropped to his knees by Rick and pulled the shirt all the way up noticing the ugly yellow and green bruising that covered Rick’s right side. 

“What the fuck happened to you?!” Daryl yelled at Rick, worry and fear colliding within him. Rick sat up slowly, one hand raised, placating, while the other tried to tug down his shirt. Daryl wasn’t having any of it, glaring at the other man. 

“Daryl, calm down. I’m alright.” Rick said soothingly, his southern drawl more pronounced. Daryl took some deep breaths as he released Rick’s shirt. “You calm?” Daryl nodded, still breathing deeply through his nose.

Rick then pulled off his shirt to let Daryl inspect his bruises. “I canceled last week because I was shot.” Daryl looked up at him with a harsh glare. “I was wearing a vest! Nothing worse than some bruising and a mild concussion.”

Daryl looked down and ran his fingers gently over the bruising, stopping at the point where the bullet hit. Quietly he said, “Don’t ya think that’s somethin’ ya shoulda told me? As yer friend?” Daryl’s insides were a mess of emotions as he stared at the small bruise, still darker than the others.

Rick lifted his face by his chin so that they were looking eye to eye. “’M sorry Daryl. I–” Rick closed his eyes and took a breath letting go of Daryl’s face. “It’s been hard to talk about, to think about.” Rick opened his eyes, filled with fear and anxiety. “I could’ve died Daryl.” Daryl’s heart panged in panic. “What would’ve happened to Carl? As much as she sucked as a wife, Lori’s a great mom. But she’s in no place to provide for her son and her parents are getting up there in age and I can’t trust Shane any!” Rick was starting to hyperventilate and Daryl put a solid hand on the man’s chest and placed one of Rick’s over his holding it there.

“Breathe with me Rick.” Daryl took some deep breaths that Rick tried to mimic, his free hand grabbing Daryl’s wrist. After a few moments, Rick’s breathing returned to normal and he continued.

“Lori tried to use it against me for the custody agreement when I told her what happened.” Rick's hand twitched on Daryl’s chest with his clenching around Rick’s wrist in response to the anger boiling through him. “I knew she’d try as soon as I told her, but she needed to hear it from me before Shane told her. Would’ve made it so much worse otherwise.”

“What happened?” Rick let out a sigh, letting their hands go. Daryl missed the contact, feeling adrift.

“She tried to claim that my job made me the unstable parent compared to her situation. Luckily with my captain and partner’s help, I was able to show this was the first time something like this has happened to me and so I’m still the more stable parent.”

Daryl nodded, biting his lip. “I still got that number for the lawyer if ya need it.” 

Rick shook his head. “The hearing is next week and my lawyer tells me that I have enough to get full custody.” He added softly, “But thank you.” 

Daryl wanted to press for more information. Why was Rick shot? Was he in danger? Was that why he was acting weird during the gun demonstration? Daryl mentally berated himself for being so stupid and thick for not recognizing Rick’s panic at the prop gun to his head. Some friend he was! So Daryl let it drop, not wanting to cause any more pain. 

After a few moments Daryl cleared his throat and stood up, reaching a hand out to help Rick up. 

“Well, I guess that’s it fer today. Let me know if ya want to do this again.” 

“Sure thang.” 

Rick packed his bag and was leaving, but Daryl didn’t want to end the night this way when the rest was so amazing.

“Rick, wait!” He turned, holding the door open as Daryl jogged over to him. “Me ‘n’ Merle do a family dinner with Carol and Sophia every Thursday. Would you and Carl like to come? Help distract Carl fer a bit?”

Rick gave him a small, pleased smile. “I’d like that. Carl would be so excited to see you again.” 

“I’ll text you.”

They waved their goodbyes and Rick disappeared out the door with one more look back. Daryl couldn’t help the shy smile that formed on his lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Please enjoy the update :)

Rick pulled his car up to a nice, yellow stucco house; Carl practically vibrating with excitement in his seat. In the driveway, he recognized Daryl’s bike and the truck Daryl drove the first night they met. 

Carl raced to the door as he followed sedately behind with a mac n’ cheese casserole in hand. The door was opened by a petite older woman with a pixie cut and a wide, warm smile wearing a floral shirt and light yellow pants0. 

“You must be Rick and Carl. Please, come in!” She guided them through the house to the kitchen saying, “I’m Carol, the others are outside. We thought we’d enjoy the warm weather before it disappears.”

“Thank you for having us. Where should I put this?” Rick said, holding up the dish.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have! I’ll take this, you guys head on out.” She said waving towards a sliding door leading to a porch. There was a rectangular, glass table with a man in a leather vest Rick recognized from Daryl’s band relaxing in a chair drinking a beer. Off to the side was a barefooted Daryl in a white tee and ripped blue jeans standing in front of a grill flipping burgers. Rick was beginning to think they were overdressed in matching blue striped, short sleeved, button downs and jeans. 

On the porch, they could look out onto a small yard that faded into a forest. There was a little girl, tall and skinny, shooting targets on hay with a small pink crossbow. 

"Oh wow.” He heard Carl whisper next to him as she hit close to the bulls-eye.

“Good shot lil’ girl!” The gruff man yelled, raising his beer to her.

Rick shifted on his feet awkwardly, not sure how to make their presence known. He was saved by Carol coming out wrapping her arms around the two of them saying, “Look who I’ve found!” Both men turned while the girl lowered her bow.

“Rick! Carl! Glad ya could make it.” Daryl said with a smile.

“Daryl!” Carl slid out from Carol’s arm and ran towards Daryl as if to give him a hug before stopping short. Instead, he held out his hand. “Thank you for having me,” he said like he was repeating from a script. Lori’s parents must have been doing etiquette lessons again.

Daryl pulled the boy into a side hug, giving him a little shake. “No problem lil’ man. Come on. Let me introduce you to my family.” He took a quick look at the burgers before dragging him over to the older man. “ Ya already met Carol. This ‘ere’s my brother, Merle, and that lil’ archer over there is Sophia.” Sophia gave the boy a shy little wave that he returned. She was wearing a white shirt with a sparkly unicorn on it with a pair of army green cargo pants. The adults watched the boy go down the steps to meet her.

“You’re good at that. Can you teach me?” he asked.

“Sure!”

“Make sure you go over the safety stuff first!” Daryl yelled out to them.

“Okay Uncle Daryl!”

The adults smiled watching the two young ones getting along. Rick was happy Carl was making a new friend. He and Lori had a custody hearing coming up next week and Rick was glad for the distraction and he was sure Carl was too.

Carol interrupted his thoughts to ask what he wanted to drink. He looked between the beer Merle was drinking and the lemonade Daryl was sipping at while adding more burgers to the grill.

“I’ll have a lemonade please.”

Daryl scoffed. “I told you, you can drink a damn beer in front of me, Rick.” Carol went back inside and returned with the drink. She then took a seat next to Merle.

Rick smiled at him, pulling out a seat at the table next to Carol where he could see Merle, Daryl, and the kids. “I know. Just think it’s a good day for lemonade.” Daryl rolled his eyes and went back to check the burgers.

“So my lil’ brother tells me you’s a cop.” Merle said eyeing him.

“That’s right.” Rick was tense. He’s been around folks like this, the ones who distrust cops. It always put him on edge being around them, never sure if they were going to strike out in anger or just posture. Rick tried to relax for Daryl’s sake. This was his family and he was here as a guest to a family dinner.

Merle nodded taking a sip of his drink before he continued. “Daryl tends to avoid cops after what Officer Douchenugget did to him, but my lil’ brother always did have a thing for pretty faces.”

“Merle!” Daryl chastised, a blush forming on his cheeks matching the one Rick could feel on his own.

“Give me a minute, Darylina.” Merle held up a hand to his brother staring at Rick with a barely contained threat. “If you’s going to be hanging around my brother I want to set a few things straight. I don't tolerate power hungry cops. If I hear you or one of your cop pals hurt my lil’ brother jus’ know I got some favors I can call in from some unsavory fellas.”

”God Merle!” Daryl exclaimed coming forward.

”It's okay Daryl,” Rick said putting up his own placating hand to silence the man with a smile before returning to Merle. “I don't condone cops who abuse their authority. I'd never hurt Daryl or let anyone else hurt him.” His voice was fierce with promise.

”I'm right here! I can take care of myself!” Daryl yelled waving his hands.

Both men ignored him staring at each other, Merle sizing him up while he tried to radiate sincerity. Merle broke away first laughing. “I like you Officer Friendly!” he said reaching out a hand to shake.

”Burgers are done,” Daryl grumbled putting the plate of meat down hard onto the table.

”I'll go grab the sides,” Carol said standing. She had been watching the exchange with a small smirk and gave Daryl a wink on her way out.

“I'll help,” Merle said finishing his beer and following her in.

“God, he can be too much sometimes,” Daryl said flopping into the seat next to him.

“He loves you and is looking out for you.” Daryl huffed crossing his arms as he slouched. Rick sat in silence trying to build courage for his next question as Daryl watched Carl try to hit the target with Sophia’s bow. “Can I ask what happened?” 

Daryl continued looking out over the yard as if he hadn’t heard the question. After a few moments, he answered. “Ya know I drank a lot before.” Rick nodded even though Daryl wasn’t looking at him. “Got in trouble a lot too; bar fights, public intoxication, those kinda things so I'd end up in the drunk tank often. This one cop like to be a little rough shoving me into the cell and one time I caught my arm on the cell door frame.” Daryl lifted the right sleeve of his white tee showing a long pale scar. Rick remembered seeing that scar when Daryl was teaching him Krav Maga and had wondered where he’d gotten it. His hands clenched in anger thinking about one of his brothers in blue hurting this man.

“Did you report him?” Rick asked. Daryl gave a humorless chuckle.

“What good would that have done? Nothin’ would’ve happened to him and he’d have shoved me harder the next time I came in. Nah, I kept my mouth shut.” Daryl took a sip of his drink. Rick could feel himself vibrating in anger and tried to take some calming breaths. He startled when Daryl put his hand over Rick’s fist and gave it a squeeze. “It’s in the past, man. No reason to let it get to ya,” he said softly. Rick nodded and looked up through the kitchen doors seeing Carol and Merle laughing as he twirled her in the kitchen.

“So, are they a thing?” Rick asked turning to Daryl. The other man withdrew his hand, leaving Rick’s feeling cold. Daryl looked where Rick had been before and gave a small smile.

“Nah, they’re just friends. I like to call them platonic soulmates, they love each other but they’re not in love with each other.”

“How’d they meet?”

“Through me. I was trying to reconnect to Merle once I got sober. He was in to much harder stuff than I was and I wanted to help him, to get my brother back. He didn’t start taking it seriously until he met Carol and Sophia. They stole his heart away and he swore to get better. Now he lives here with them, helping Carol raise Sophia while they help keep him in line. They’re a bunch of spitfires.” Rick didn’t think he’d ever seen Daryl as contented as he was talking about his family.

\---

They were enjoying dinner as the sun began to set. Merle switched on the lights, a web of twinkle lights above them, creating a warm, cozy atmosphere. Rick spent most of the time listening with Carol as Merle and Daryl tried to out-embarrass each other with failed hunting stories. Carl and Sophia finished dinner quickly so Sophia could show Carl her tree house while it was still light enough to see, Merle making her take a flashlight just in case.

As they sat around after, stomach stuffed but contemplating Carol’s pie for dessert, Rick asked Carol what she did for a living. Daryl and Merle both got quiet and sent Carol twin concerned glances. She waved them off.

“Stop worrying and go slice the pie.” The two men grumbled as they got up and went inside. “Those boys, a pair of mother hens, I tell you.” She said shaking her head with a fond smile.

“Did I say something wrong?” he asked, casting the men a glance.

“No,” she said smiling at him. “I work as a domestic violence paralegal for several nonprofits in the city. It helps our clients to see and speak to someone who has made it out and doing well because there’s a lot of fear about what comes after.”

Rick was still processing what he heard when Daryl came back and put a piece of blueberry pie with a side of vanilla ice cream in front of him. It wasn’t until Merle and Daryl were both seated that he found a response. “That sounds very rewarding. I’m sorry for whatever you had to go through.”

“It is and I’m not. It was hell, don’t get me wrong, but now I have a fulfilling job, a beautiful daughter, and two wonderful men looking out for me.” She said giving the brothers a fond smile causing them both to blush and mutter. Rick smiled watching them, his heart warming at the love these three had for each other.

“Sophie! Carl! Dessert!” Merle yelled out at the forest. Soon the adults heard the trampling of two kids bursting from the treeline.

When the kids were sorted out, Carol asked, “So what’s it like being a cop?” Rick shrugged, finishing a bite of pie before answering.

“Pretty boring actually. Mostly handing out lots of speeding tickets and DUI’s.”

“And he got shot!” Carl called from the other side of the table. “He had this _huge_ bruise for weeks! It was awesome!” Rick sighed. Once the terror of losing his father wore off, the little boy couldn’t help the excitement of knowing someone who got shot or be amazed at the gross souvenirs. Rick noticed how Daryl’s hands clenched his silverware and the pinched look on his face. He wanted to reach out and sooth the furrow of the other man’s brow, to remind him that he’s okay and that he’s here with him.

Merle surprised everyone by letting out a loud booming laugh. “Man, guess yer tougher than you look, aren’t ya? When I first saw ya, I coulda sworn a strong breeze would knock ya down.”

“Laugh it up, old man. I may not look like much, but I’m pure muscle under here thanks to my soccer team, which reminds me. Daryl.” he said catching the other man’s attention. “Our next match is next Saturday if you wanna prove you can keep up.”

“What’s this?” Carol asked interest peaked.

“Daryl told me soccer wasn’t a real sport so we agreed that he’ll play a game of soccer with my team and I’ll let him teach me Krav Maga. I held up my end of the deal and now it’s his turn.”

“Are you shittin’ me? Darylina here is gonna be playing soccer?!” Merle laughed. “Make sure you send me some videos, Rick, cuz I gotta see this.” Daryl punched Merle in the shoulder causing him to retaliate with a shove which dissolved into a wrestling match in the yard. 

Standing with Carol and the kids each cheering for a different brother, Rick felt a soft warmth filling his body, reminding him of coming home to his parents after a long semester. Rick wiped a small tear from his eye and smiled joining the kids and cheering for Daryl basking in this golden warmth of being surrounded by family, something he hadn’t felt since his parents passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I agree there wasn't much Daryl & Carl interaction as I had hoped for this chapter, but too many other things had to be said and it was already getting pretty long. But don't worry! There will be more family time chapters in the future!
> 
> Coming up:  
> Daryl gets a speed lesson in soccer, Shane is up to no good, Daryl sings Sunglasses at night, and Rick learns something that really shouldn't shock him


End file.
